Method of forming hollow and solid jewelry chains and chains formed therefrom

ABSTRACT

A method of forming a decorative chain includes joining a first and second material in a layered relationship, each material having a different appearance, and forming such joined material into a thread comprising a core of a third material. In one embodiment, the thread is introduced onto a support to form a spiral, and the spiral is separated into chain elements or links that are intertwined to form jewelry chains. Thereafter a portion of the first material along the outer surface of the chain is removed to reveal or expose a portion of the sub-layer of second material along the outer surface. In one embodiment, the thread core is maintained for solid link chain. In another embodiment, the thread core is removed to form hollow link chain. In either case, the outer surface of the chain is provided with contrasting appearances from the first and second materials.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Application 61/039,222,filed Mar. 25, 2008, the contents of which are incorporated herein byreference. This application is also related to U.S. application Ser. No.12/054,793, filed Mar. 25, 2008, the contents of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method of forming a jewelry chaingenerally, and more particularly to a method of forming hollow or solidjewelry chain, links, rings, and the like, with a decorative appearancepreferably formed from at least two materials.

BACKGROUND

Jewelry chains, whether formed by hand or machine, are typically madefrom separate elements that are intertwined or woven together, with suchelements typically defined as rings, spirals, links, and the like. Suchelements also tend to be either solid or hollow and are formed fromprecious metal, semi-precious metal, non precious metal, or acombination of the same. Of course, jewelry chains formed fromnon-metallic elements are also known.

Typically, each chain element is formed from a single material, such asgold or silver, for example, and various elements of the same ordifferent materials are intertwined to form chains of the same materialor combinations of different materials as the case may be. Chains formedfrom single-material elements tend to be rather ordinary. This isparticularly true for hollow chain elements, where the primary goal isto achieve an appearance of greatest value with the least amount ofelement material, and such elements tend to be formed from a singlematerial of relatively thin-walled construction. Hollow elements inparticular have limited material usage, and are generally only decoratedthrough outer peripheral surface deformation by means of a finger,stamp, or some other tool that flattens, with one example illustrated inU.S. Pat. No. 6,223,516. Other examples are known in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,129,220 and 5,353,584 to Strobel. Thus, with hollow links or elements,it is rare that such link or element would be formed from anything morethan the bare minimum amount of material.

Similarly, links or elements, whether solid or hollow, that are eachformed from a single material, but that are arranged with other elementsof the same or different material in a repeating or random pattern, toform a decorative jewelry chain or the like, also tend to be somewhatcommon. In this case, the chain as a whole is decorative, but eachelement or link tends to be, again, somewhat ordinary.

However, what is not commonplace is a chain or an element comprised ofmore than one material, and/or where there a contrast between differentmaterials or appearances on the element or link level when assembled ina chain. This is particularly evident with hollow links or elements ofsingle-material, thinned wall construction, where cross-sectionalthickness of the link wall is at a minimum. Thus, it is not only rare toincorporate more than one material into a link or chain element of solidconstruction, but it is perhaps more rare to have a hollow link or chainelement formed from a plurality of materials of varying appearances.

SUMMARY

A method of forming a decorative chain includes joining a first andsecond material in a layered relationship, each material having adifferent appearance, and forming such joined material into a threadcomprising a core of a third material. In one embodiment, the thread isintroduced onto a support to form a spiral, and the spiral is separatedinto chain elements or links that are intertwined to form jewelrychains. Thereafter a portion of the first material along the outersurface of the chain is removed to reveal or expose a portion of thesub-layer of second material along the outer surface. In one embodiment,the thread core is maintained for solid link chain. In anotherembodiment, the thread core is removed to form hollow link chain. Ineither case, the outer surface of the chain is preferably provided withcontrasting appearances from the first and second materials.

The method is particularly useful on any handmade or machine-made chainmanufactured with links, segments, rings, spirals and other accessoriesor the like, containing, for example for solid chains, an external goldsheet (or first material) and an internal silver sheet (or secondmaterial), and additionally, a core of silver or another metal (or thirdmaterial), and for hollow chains, an external gold sheet of a firstmaterial and an internal silver sheet of a second material with a coreof a non precious metal that will be extracted at the end of allprocesseses resulting a hollow element. Other materials, precious,semi-precious or non-preciously, are contemplated for use herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of the joining of two materials inaccordance with a method of forming a jewelry chain in accordance withthe present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates the two materials of FIG. 1 joined together.

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of a processing of the joined materialof FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of a processed strip formed from theprocessing illustrated in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of a cutting process used to obtainsmaller resultant strips of material.

FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of a resultant strip of FIG. 5 and acore used to create a thread of material.

FIG. 7 illustrates the formation of a tubular section through theintroduction of the core to the resultant strip of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8A illustrates an end view of the tubular section of FIG. 7.

FIG. 8B is a cross-section of the tubular section of FIG. 8A.

FIG. 9A illustrates the creation of a thread from the tubular section ofFIGS. 8A and 8B.

FIGS. 9B-9G illustrate different shapes and cross-sections obtainedthrough the operation illustrated in FIG. 9A.

FIG. 10 illustrates one embodiment of the winding of a thread on asupport.

FIG. 11A illustrates the cutting of a thread into link elements.

FIGS. 11B-11F illustrate various link elements capable of being formedby the method of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12A illustrates the cutting of a thread into spiral elements.

FIGS. 12B-12D illustrate various spiral elements capable of being formedby the method of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13A illustrates the formation of a Forzatina jewelry chainincluding the link elements of the present invention.

FIG. 13B illustrate the chain formed from the method of FIG. 13A.

FIG. 14A illustrates the formation of a jewelry rope chain including thelink elements of the present invention.

FIG. 14B illustrate the rope chain formed from the method of FIG. 14A.

FIG. 15 illustrates one embodiment of the removal of a portion of theouter surface of a jewelry chain to reveal the sub-layer of materialbelow the outer surface.

FIG. 16 illustrates one embodiment of a method of forming a strip intobox chain links.

FIG. 17 illustrates one embodiment of a method of forming the box chainlinks of FIG. 16 into a string of box chain of links.

FIG. 18 illustrate the box chain formed from the method of FIGS. 16-17.

FIG. 19 illustrates one embodiment of the removal of a portion of thestring of chain links to form a decorated jewelry box chain.

FIG. 20 illustrates one embodiment of a method of forming hollow linkchains.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

This disclosure describes the best mode or modes of practicing theinvention as presently contemplated. This description is not intended tobe understood in a limiting sense, but provides an example of theinvention presented solely for illustrative purposes by reference to theaccompanying drawings to advise one of ordinary skill in the art of theadvantages and construction of the invention. In the various views ofthe drawings, like reference characters designate like or similar parts.

This disclosure illustrates various methods of forming a jewelry chain,chain elements and the like, in accordance with the present invention.While the present discussion refers to a jewelry “chain” per se, it willbe understood that the chain could be a portion of a chain, a necklace,an earring or a loop used for earrings, a bracelet, a pin, a ring,pendant, etc. and the like. It will also be understood that the jewelrychain could be a chain designed to be worn by a user, or a spool ofchain material typically used by a wholesaler to create separate lengthchains for distribution to retailers or end customers. In addition, themethod of the present invention could be used to create spirals,segments, or links that are formed into earrings for example, or thatare woven or intertwined to form various chain designs such as box chain(see FIGS. 16-18), ball chain, Forzatina chain (FIGS. 13A-13B), ropechain (FIGS. 14A-15) and others.

One embodiment of the method starts with FIG. 1 with the provision of afirst material 100 and a second material 200, typically in strip orsheet form, where the first and second materials 100, 200 are preferablyprecious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, etc., and morepreferably where the first and second materials are different preciousmetals having different appearances. For example, one material could beyellow gold and the other material could be silver. In addition, thematerials could be the same metal but have different colors, such aswith gold that is yellow, white or rose in color. It should beappreciated that while it is preferred to use precious metals, othertypes of materials may be used, such as non-precious metals ornon-metals, and the like. It should also be appreciated that thematerials described herein can have any structural composition andconfiguration, size, shape, cross-section, length, width, thickness,hardness, etc., to be determined by the manufacturer and/or the user'sliking and budget.

Returning to FIG. 1, the first and second materials 100, 200 are joinedtogether preferably in a layered relationship, one material on top ofthe other, using a joining medium 150 such as solder or the like, toform a joined material 300 shown in FIG. 2 having opposing surfacesformed from the first and second materials 100, 200. While a weldingprocess using a solder material is shown and described, it will beappreciated that other joining processes may be used as desired. Thejoined material 300 is then processed to form a predetermined dimensionas shown in FIG. 3. For example, the thickness of the material can bereduced (thereby increasing the length) by passing the joined material300 through rollers 350 or the like to form a processed material 400 asshown, for example, in FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 illustrates further processing of the processed material 400using a multi-disc cutter 450 or the like, to form resultant strips of500 of material that can be stored on spools 550 or the like for thenext step in the process. In the embodiment shown, it is preferred thatthe resultant strip 500 comprises the first material 100 of oneappearance or color welded on top of the second material 200 of adifferent appearance or color, processed so that both materials 100, 200are the same width. Of course, while FIGS. 3-5 illustrate certainprocessing steps and end results, it will be appreciated that suchprocessing steps may be optional, or other processing steps may besuggested, depending on the desired outcome. For example, it may bepreferred to facet, bevel or otherwise re-design certain portions of thematerial 100, 200, 300, 400 and/or 500 during one or more stages ofprocessing. The type and extent of processing is dependent on the userand should not be limited in scope by what is shown or not shown in thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates the resultant strip 500 positioned adjacent a core600 comprising a third material, with the strip 500 and the core 600being joined in accordance with the method illustrated in FIG. 7 below.The material composition of the core 600 will depend to some extent onthe type of chain, whether hollow or solid. For solid chains, the core600 will preferably be of a material that will remain inside the chainto form the central cross-section of a link or other element that willbe used to form the chain. For hollow chains, the core 600 will be of amaterial that will be removed at the end of the manufacturing process ofthe chain, using any method known in the art. For example, with hollowchain, the core 600 may comprise iron or the like that is chemicallyremoved from the chain to form hollow chain links or elements. In thecase of solid and hollow chain, however, some material is used as a core600 during the manufacture process of the chain.

FIG. 7 illustrates the process for joining the resultant strip 500 witha core 600 that might initially be stored on a spool 610 or the like.The resultant strip 500 passes through a first set of rollers 710 thatinitially prepares the resultant strip 500 to receive the core 600. Thecore 600 is then introduced into the prepared strip within a secondseries of rollers 720 and simultaneously the strip 500 is formed aroundthe core 600 to form a tubular section 800 (FIGS. 8A, 8B) that is closedafter passing through a third series of rollers 730. When the tubularsection 800 is closed and the tube edges touch each other, the seam 810of the tube is preferably welded 740 using any method that results in agood resistance and finish, such as, for example, by TIG (Tungsten InertGas) welding. As shown in FIGS. 8A (end view) and 8B (cross-section),the processed tubular section 800 comprises the first material 100positioned adjacent the core 600 and the second material 200 forming theexterior of the processed tube section 800.

As shown in FIG. 9A, the tubular section 800 is then introduced througha die or dies 820 of different diameters in descending order, as thecase may be, to reduce the tube section 800 to a thread 900 having across-sectional configuration (FIG. 9B for example) that is determinedbased on the shape of the die outlet 840 and that is stored on a spool910 (FIG. 10) or the like. FIGS. 9B-9G illustrate various non-limitingexamples of thread cross-sections including, but not limited to, round,oval, cat eye, square, rectangular, triangular, and others, it beingunderstood that other thread-cross sections are contemplated.

FIG. 10 illustrates one method of winding the thread 900 on a mandrel orother support 920, via a guide 930 to form a spiral 1000. The spiral1000 can have any cross-sectional or peripheral configuration limitedonly by the outer peripheral configuration of the mandrel 920. Forexample, a round mandrel or support 920 will produce a round spiral 1000and thereafter a rounded link 1100 b (FIG. 11B). Similarly, a squaremandrel or support (not shown) will result in a square link 1100 d (FIG.11D) for example. A variety of non-limiting spiral and linkconfigurations are contemplated and shown in FIGS. 11A-11F. As shown inFIG. 11A, the spiral 1000 can be cut into separate links 1100 a using asaw 1050 (FIG. 8) or the like, for example. Alternatively, as shown inFIGS. 12A-12D, the spiral 1000 can be cut into separate spiral-shapedsegments 1200 a of varying length using a blade 1210 or the like. Thesesegments might be measured by number of complete turns from end-to-end,such as two (FIG. 12B), three (FIG. 12C), four (FIG. 12D) or more orless. Other methods of separating the spiral 1000 into segments,elements or links, are contemplated.

Separate links may be combined and intertwined by hand or by machine asis known in the art. FIG. 13A illustrates the successive joining ofoval-shaped links 1100 f (FIG. 11F) to form a so-called Forzatina chain1300 as shown in FIG. 13B. FIG. 14A illustrates the successiveintertwining of toroidal links 1100 b (see FIG. 11B) to form a so-calledrope chain 1400 as shown in FIG. 14B. This rope chain 1400 may besubject to a faceting operation or the like 1450 as shown in FIG. 15 toarrive at a faceted rope chain 1500 that shows part of the secondmaterial 200 contrasting in appearance with the first material 100. Avariety of decorating methods can be used, such as, but not limited to,polishing, grinding, cutting, burnishing, or a combination of the same.

FIGS. 16-17 show one example or embodiment of making a jewelry chain,and in this case a box chain, using the principles of the presentdisclosure. For ease of explanation, strip 500 of FIG. 16 is similar tostrip 500 from FIG. 5, which strip 500 is typically stored on spools 550(FIG. 5) or the like. Strip 500, which comprises the joinder of firstand second materials 100, 200, is fed into a processing machine 1600that cuts the strip 500 into links 510. The processing machine 1600comprises a strip support 1610 for supporting the strip 500 duringfeeding, and a cutting press 1620 and support 1630 for cutting the strip500 and forming the cut strip into a shaped link 510. The shaped link510 is then automatically delivered to another processing machine 1700(FIG. 17) that comprises a further press 1710 and support 1720 thatforms the links 510 into shaped links 520, such as box-shaped links 520for example, that are then weaved one after the other to form a stringof intertwined links 530. This string of links 530 is then solderedtogether in a belt furnace with solder powder, for example, to arrive ata continuous final chain 1800 (FIG. 18). Thereafter, the final chain1800 may be placed on a support or mandrel 1910 and subject to furtherprocessing where the first material 100 or a portion thereof can beremoved from portions of individual links 520 by a variety of means toexpose the second material 200 as discussed above. While FIG. 19illustrates the engagement of a faceting blade 1920 or the like alongthe outer surface of the chain 1800 for imparting a decorativeappearance to the chain 1800 to form a resultant chain 1900, it will beunderstood that a variety of decorating methods can be used, such as,but not limited to, polishing, grinding, cutting, burnishing, or acombination of the same, or others. The resultant chain 1900, comprisingin the embodiment of FIG. 19 a box chain having faceted links, is thenremoved from the support or mandrel 1910 and stored on a spool (notshown) and/or cut into chain segments (not shown) for sale to customersor the like.

FIG. 20 illustrates one example or embodiment of a rope chain 1400 ofFIG. 14B, with a chain element cross-section 1400 a, comprising a first,outer material 100, a second, inner material 200, and a third, corematerial 600, that is subject to a processing operation to remove thecore 600 and create a chain 2000 having hollow links or elements thatare devoid of a core 600 as shown in the cross-section 2000 a. In thiscase, if the core 600 comprises iron or copper or another suitablemetal, it can be removed under any permitted method, such as boiling1950 for example, or a chemical bath, resulting in hollow links orelements and therefore, a hollow chain 2000.

The process of FIG. 20 can take place before or after a decoratingoperation is imparted to the chain, such as by faceting, polishing,grinding, deforming, or the like. For example, the faceting operation ofFIG. 15 can occur before or after the core 600 is removed, although itis preferable to have the core 600 in place during the facetingoperation for purposes of chain stability and the like. In other words,it is easier to facet a solid chain than it is a hollow chain, althoughmethods are known in the art to facet hollow chain for example. Ineither case, the goal of the decorating operation is to create adifferentiating appearance between the first and second materials 100,200 on the separate links or elements, and along the chain as a whole.

For handmade chains: the elements or links will be manufactured usingthe thread described above as a material, whether by hand with mandrelsor using roll-former machines. In some cases, the machine manufacturesthe entire element or link, in other cases, it will be necessary to usean additional cutting operation to obtain it. Subsequently, each elementwill be assembled to another one, forming a chain of elements, whichwill be welded in the corresponding place to obtain an adequateflexibility as well as the necessary strength in the towing hook ofelements, to prevent the chain from breaking. For machine-made chains,automatic machines may be used containing the tools in the requiredmeasures necessary to form and assemble links or elements amongthemselves. In some cases, the machine not only assembles the elementbut also welds it. In the event that the chain is not welded, the chainwill be processed with a material, which allows it to weld it when itpasses through a furnace, or by hand. For chains, where the chain coreincludes a precious metal (not limited), the core will remain and thechain will be identified as a solid link chain.

The method described herein will allow the quantity of high-valueprecious metal as gold or platinum, for example, to be used in the chainsurface with a minimum thickness upon using other precious metal. In oneembodiment described here, the use of silver or any other metal as asupport or core, a metal with a lower value, which will allow tomanufacture a piece of identical external appearance, in weight as wellas in structure and resistance, but with an extremely lower value, whichwill be a great benefit for the final consumer, who will be able to useand feel the highest-value precious metals for the lowest price. Anotheradvantageous part of this method occurs when diamond cuts, for example,are made in the chain surface, which exposes the appearance of theinternal material, contrasting with the appearance of the externalmaterial, giving a very special appearance of two tonalities.

While the present invention has been described at some length and withsome particularity with respect to the several described embodiments, itis not intended that it should be limited to any such particulars orembodiments or any particular embodiment, but it is to be construed withreferences to the appended claims so as to provide the broadest possibleinterpretation of such claims in view of the prior art and, therefore,to effectively encompass the intended scope of the invention.Furthermore, the foregoing describes the invention in terms ofembodiments foreseen by the inventor for which an enabling descriptionwas available, notwithstanding that insubstantial modifications of theinvention, not presently foreseen, may nonetheless represent equivalentsthereto.

1. A method of forming a jewelry chain comprising: a) joining a strip offirst material and a strip of second material to form a joined stripcomprising the first material on one side of the joined strip and thesecond material on an opposite side of the joined strip; b) wrapping thejoined strip around a core of third material to form a thread having anexterior defined by the first material; c) creating chain links from thethread and joining the chain links together to form a string of linkshaving an exterior; and d) removing a portion of the first material fromthe exterior of the string of links to expose the second material atsuch removed portion.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprisingremoving the core from one or more chain links to form links of hollowcross-section.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first and secondmaterials are precious metals and the third material is a non-preciousmetal.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein a portion of the first materialis removed by polishing, grinding, cutting, burnishing, faceting or acombination of the same.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the chainlinks are joined together by hand.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein thejewelry chain comprises one of a box chain, ball chain, Forzatina chain,or rope chain.
 7. A jewelry element comprising: a) a first material anda second material, b) the first material forming an exterior of thejewelry element, the second material comprising a sub-layer to the firstmaterial; and c) a portion of the first material being removed from theexterior to expose a portion of the second material.
 8. The jewelryelement of claim 7, wherein the jewelry element is hollow incross-section.
 9. The jewelry element of claim 7, further comprising anannular, toroidal configuration.
 10. The jewelry element of claim 7,further comprising a spiral configuration.
 11. The jewelry element ofclaim 7, further comprising a square or rectangular configuration. 12.The jewelry element of claim 8, further comprising a plurality ofjewelry elements assembled to form a jewelry chain.
 13. The jewelryelement of claim 7, the first and second materials each has a differentappearance.
 14. The jewelry element of claim 13, at least one of thefirst and second materials comprising a precious metal.
 15. The jewelryelement of claim 14, each of the first and second materials comprising adifferent precious metal.
 16. A jewelry chain comprising: a) a pluralityof chain elements each formed from a first material and a secondmaterial, b) the first material forming an exterior of the chainelement, the second material comprising a sub-layer to the firstmaterial; and c) a portion of the first material being removed from theexterior of one or more chain elements to expose a portion of the secondmaterial; d) wherein the one or more chain elements is hollow incross-section.
 17. The chain of claim 16, wherein the first and secondmaterials have a different appearance.
 18. The chain of claim 16,wherein the first and second materials are different precious metals.19. The method of claim 16, wherein the jewelry chain comprises one of abox chain, ball chain, Forzatina chain, or rope chain.
 20. A method offorming a jewelry chain comprising: a) providing a plurality of chainlinks, each chain link comprising a first material and a secondmaterial, the first material forming an exterior of the chain link, thesecond material comprising a sub-layer to the first material; b) formingan assembly of the plurality of chain links; and c) removing a portionof the first material from one or more chain links of the assembly toexpose the second material on the one or more chain links; d) whereinthe one or more chain links is hollow in cross-section.
 21. The methodof claim 20, wherein the one or more chain links further comprises acore of a third material prior to being formed into the assembly, thecore being removed from the one or more chain links after being formedinto the assembly in order to achieve a hollow cross-section.
 22. Themethod of claim 21, wherein the core is removed after the portion of thefirst material is removed from the one or more chain links.
 23. Themethod of claim 21, the first and second materials each has a differentappearance.
 24. The method of claim 21, wherein at least of the firstand second materials are precious metals and the third material is anon-precious metal.